Dillingham Elementary to retain "blue notes"

Dillingham Elementary School has decided to continue the system that allows parents to call the school and ask that their student be let off at a different bus stop than normal.

Credit KDLG

Dillingham Elementary School has decided to continue “blue notes” next year. Blue notes is the system by which parents can call the school and ask that their child be let off at a different stop than normal on their bus route.

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At a community meeting last week, the school announced that it was doing away with the system for the coming year. That would have meant that students would be required to get off at the same bus stop every day or be picked up at school by a caregiver. After push back from parents and discussions with the new bus provider, the school has walked back that decision and will be keeping blue notes.

“We did listen to the parent input, and we do understand that we would be creating a hardship for a handful of families,” says principal Nick Schollmeier.

There are specific issues with the blue notes system that the school still hopes to address. Schollmeier says that safety concerns were the reason the school initially decided to do away with the system.

“Some of the problems we were having was once a kid got a blue note they would give it to their bus driver and then they would either not be paying attention to their bus stop and they would miss their bus stop or the bus driver would forget to have them get off at the stop.”

He is optimistic, however, that the new bus provider will work with the school to address those issues and put policies in place that will ensure students safety and allow the school to keep blue notes next year.